Thursday, May 11, 2006

It's CosmoChix blog day for me, so I hope you'll bop over to read my confessions of a Fangrl fan.And, since we're redirecting, check out this week's Romance: B(u)y the Book feature of "Don't Look Down," first in a series of He said/She said romances from Jennifer "You Can Call Me Jenny" Crusie and Bob "I'm a former Green Beret and How Studly is That" Mayer. They've also teamed up for a great AuthorView.

22 comments:

Okay, I adore JC, have even met her a few times, but I don't have a favorite. Maybe Charlie Up All Night? I'm sorry to say that reading her books is rather redundant for me. Again, going back to the fact that I adore her, read her blog, gaped at her home office at the beginning of the year, think she's a hoot. But everytime I read a JC book I think "Haven't I read this before?"

One book, the one where the heroine's hair ends up green? In that book, I swear that the same voice was used by every single character. I couldn't tell who the hero or the heroine was, I couldn't distinguish between the main characters and te secondary characters.

Did I mention I think JC is amazingly funny in person, a truly lovely person, and her blog, especially the one with her & Bob, is hysterical?

For me its a toss up between Manhunting and Bet Me. I liked the characters in both of them, they were funny and genuine. That's what I like about JC, she makes her characters very real - they swear out loud when they are frustrated, sometimes the sex scenes are awkward for the protagonists and it doesn't always work out right.

I prefer the pretty yellow cover for Don't Look Down. To me, its more of a romance that way. Although the camo is cool too.

Mercenary hereos - maybe because of the things they've seen, they are hard and jaded and need some happiness and light in their lives. They are also completely capable and take-charge, got to love that in a hero.

I have to be honest here and say that Bet Me is the only JC that I have read, but it won't be the last. I love a book that makes me laugh out loud. I also liked the fact that the heroine wasn't your typical drop-dead-gorgeous-tall-curvy type, but she did have great taste in shoes. She was real.

Michelle, I read the AuthorView and thought JC and BM were great. I will have to get DLD just because I enjoyed the authors.

I don't know about every JC book, but there was some Bondage Light in Bet Me when Cal tied Min to the couch. Another LOL scene.

I'm gonna have to say BET ME is my fave Crusie, though WELCOME TO TEMPTATION is a very close second. I loved the whole Elvis v. Elvis Costello thing in BET ME.

Not sure why the whole military thing is such a big draw, except that that seems to be the ultimate form of masculinity these days. And it's the modern equivalent of the whole Knight/Warrior motif. I am looking forward to DON'T LOOK DOWN. And I definitely prefer the "girly" cover. Though I like the idea of two covers...

Thanks for the congrats of yesterday, Bellas. It'll be an academic library so not quite as romance friendly as one would hope, but I'll do my darndest to do my part for the genre...Even the study of it!

Best of luck, Rachd! Let us know how it goes.

Amy, are you going to ALA in New Orleans this summer? I was thinking yesterday that we need some sort of crossover ALA/RWA group...maybe there is one and I don't know about it?

My favorite Jennifer Cruise -- one of my favorite books -- is Crazy for You. While I was reading it, I kept getting disgusted with it because I felt this author -- I didn't know she was A NAME -- was treating the subject of stalking and obsessive/possessive relationships with too much levity. But then, as I stuck with it, the levity of it, the heroine's unwillingness to cower from it, gave the character and the book strength. The seems to be JC's real gift, finding strength where you don't usually. And I love that the book is me and you and the woman next door: a teacher and mechanic and her hairstylist best friend. I love that there's no extreme situations or coincidences, just slow love and good sex in a small town.

Amy, I've known plenty of "support staff" who knew more than the librarians. Bet you're one of those;) I still think we need some sort of library/romance group. I'll have to check into it I guess.I'd love to go to RWA, but Atlanta is about six hours away from me, while New Orleans is only two...

The secret of military guys? Let me reveal how shallow I am: it's the dress uniform. Plus the fact that you know they can do 300 sit-ups in a row and run 5 miles in combat boots. Abs, stamina, and crisp, buttoned-down uniforms: WHOO-AH. My personal favorite is the Navy whites. In college, my roommates and I knew exactly which days were Navy ROTC days, so we could catch all the guysin their spit-poliched best.

And my favorite JC...I think Fast Women, for how she took such different women in, shall we say, awkward positions-- the trophy wife, for instance-- and made them sympathetic and wonderful.

Yeah. i've got this mandastacyrachd thing. It's like trying to remember which kid is which.

Man, I loved "Don't Look Down," Louis. And I dig Bob Mayer, though I've only read DLD and "Cut Out." Great style. Totally doesn't take himself too seriously like some overwrought paperback action/adventure/thriller novelist guys. Just good stuff.

You girls: Love a book in uniform, very very funny, JulieO. And I agree with the whole military guys being primed and ready for service, as it were. don't care if they're infantry or, well, actually, I don't dig the whole Officer thing. Guess the grunt is a little sexier cause he's probably had a more tortured past. Emma Holly has a really hot character just back from the Gulf in All U Can Eat.

Funny, Angelina, the idea of thinking we should like an author cause she's A NAME. Ever feel bad saying you don't like a writer everyone else does? Scary stuff. Not for the faint (sp) of heart.

Academic romance, Manda? We're gonna talk that today, I think...

And I adore librarians, but we all know the support staff often are as qualified, just don't have the couple extra letters on the paper. :)

Not a problem, Amy! I almost called you Stacy too! There's just something about Stacy...

You are soooo right, Michelle, about the NAME authors. I am very careful about saying which ones just don't do it for me. And sadly, there are quite a few. It really depresses me when I read one of those NAMEs and they disappoint. But when I read one and find they live up to the hype (like Crusie) I get so jazzed. It restores my faith in humanity in some way...or just makes me feel like less of an outsider, maybe. It is much more fun to be in the "in" crowd.

Ooooh you guys I am completely Thumper with some authors. If I can't say anything nice I don't say anything at all. Because there are some HUGE ones out there who I just don't (or can't) appreciate. No excuses--but I understand that if someone really likes someone I'm not gonna tell them I think they're crap.

Manda, being the rebel that I am, I always like it when I think I've found someone new--and yet if someone comes up to the desk with an author's book I've read (and liked) I love letting them know that--It's like we're in a mini club for ten and a half seconds.

Right Michelle? Oh and thanks everyone for making me feel better about calling Manda Stacy. You guys are great..even when I don't know who the heck I am.

I absolutely loved Don't Look Down all three times I've read it so far.

I think Jenny Crusie is a writing goddess. I'd be hard pressed to pick one book as a favorite because there are wonderful things I love in each book. If you put a gun to my head and forced me to choose one or die, I guess I'd say Fast Women. But I'd feel guilty for not also picking Faking It, Anyone But You, Tell Me Lies... you get my drift.

I'm a new fan of Bob Mayer's now after reading Bodyguard of Lies (published under the name Robert Doherty).